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we have no color lines
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1 http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/77b0aa51cda52f4dfc25655d1de1daeb?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngEthnic Space Bloghttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com
Resurrecting Ancient Wisdom and Worldview by Randy S. Woodleyhttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/resurrecting-ancient-wisdom-and-worldview-by-randy-s-woodley/
https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/resurrecting-ancient-wisdom-and-worldview-by-randy-s-woodley/#commentsFri, 04 May 2018 02:47:55 +0000http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/?p=735Continue reading →]]>There are stark differences between the worldviews of Indigenous peoples and those whose worldviews developed with the influence of Western Europe. The “age of discovery” brought the Europeans to our Indigenous shores. Many of those theologians and discoverers attributed their discoveries to God and then immediately acted in the most ungodly manner. I am willing to concede that the Creator had a hand in the meeting of the two worlds but I think it has been largely misinterpreted by the Western nations and Western religious bodies. These so called “discoveries” created not only wealth by extraction in previously co-sustained Indigenous lands, labor and resources, but they also created perverted national myths and twisted theological accounts of conquest. These myths have continued to be told time and time again, and with each generation they are reified, built upon and codified into our society’s collective mythologies and memories.

The Europeans came to many of our Indigenous shores at a time when their resources were fading away.[1] Their oak forests were decimated in order to satisfy their desires for projects like castles, forts and churches. Western Europe was experiencing serious land concerns with unhealthy soil as a result of poor agricultural practices. Their fisheries in local bays and rivers were becoming fished out through over consumption. Fresh water was rare because their springs and streams had become largely despoiled. Classism caused by feudal systems were causing political unrest and hierarchical systems in both church and state were a constant concern of the ruling class. Cities were overcrowded. Waste and refuge lined the streets of their cities creating unsanitary conditions followed by disease. Western Europe had become a political hot zone and an ecological dead zone that was in desperate need of a new worldview, but instead, they convinced themselves they only needed new lands, thus the myth of “The New World.”

Our Creator is loving, merciful and vulnerable. If God brought the Europeans to our Indigenous lands, the purpose was for the Europeans to observe, listen and learn a new way of life compatible with co-sustaining the earth, God’s community of creation, after devastating their own lands. God’s purpose was never for Europeans to rule over Indigenous peoples nor to subjugate our lands. In my estimation, the Europeans who invaded our shores, could not accept the said terms. What has been dubbed “the Columbian Exchange” was for Indigenous peoples and their lands, the beginning of “the Apocalypse.” The Europeans hubris was already stacked high through wrongly held theological formulas tainting the “Indigenous Other.” Our Indigenous people were seen by the Christians as lacking not only Christianity, but civilization. These wrongly held theological views are today, still persistent in the Western world’s view of the community of creation.

At the time of European invasion Indigenous peoples were not living out a utopian vision of perfection. We too, still had much to learn. But the Western worldview that was so devastating in Europe; depleting the land and community of creation there of its natural abundance, did not fare well in our lands because, unwilling to learn; unwilling to change, they repeated the same mistakes of the past. The same worldview that despoiled Europe sought without respect or regard, to despoil our great lands and, once again, it has succeeded. The difference today is that we now find ourselves in global peril.

I believe Indigenous peoples continue to have the solutions to our current climate maladies. Indigenous peoples continue to hold on to traditional earth knowledge and the wisdom attained from millenniums of trial and error. A bandage will not fix our current crisis. Moral teaching and preaching alone will not heal us. It will take a new view of the world to change the earth. The best way to dispel a false narrative is to tell a better, truer narrative. Who best to make that corrective than the Indigenous peoples of the earth who have been observing these bad narratives brought by the Europeans; observing as they have made their mistakes for hundreds of years? Our Indigenous cosmologies are written in the land and they guide us in our responsibilities towards the land and the community of creation.

To Indigenous peoples, the problems of a Western worldview are obvious. The way of life demonstrated by Western peoples leads to alienation from the earth. It creates a false bubble called Western civilization which the West feels will protect them from calamity. This false hope is built on age old philosophical ideas handed down from Greece, Rome, England and other Western nation states. They consist of Dualism, Hierarchy, Compartmentalization, Anthropocentrism, Racism, Individualism, Competitiveness, Intolerance, Utopianism, Greed and Control which are now all embedded into the Western worldview. All of this is anti-Christ to its core. Christ, the Creator, loves his creation, along with all creatures who inhabit it. During this time of resurrection and new life, perhaps the worldview and wisdom from the land and co-sustainers of the land should be resurrected too.

[1] See Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created.

Randy S. Woodley, Phd, is the author of Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, and co-sustainer with his wife Edith, at Eloheh Farm & Seed, www.elohehfarm.com

We know them by name, almost like sports teams who have grown to have so many new franchises we can’t keep up with them: San Bernardino, Roseburg, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Columbine, and so many more. All tragic. All nationally lamented. All such events continuing to grow exponentially. In a recent poll, over half of all Americans favor sending ground troops to Syria or Iraq to fight Isis.[1] Picture the Roman Coliseum with 54% of the people standing, crying for blood and you have a idea (yes, slightly exaggerated but think more “Hunger Games”) of how much America craves violence to solve its problems, all in the name of righteousness, national security and defenders of the global helpless. But this is a myth.

The American Myth is embedded with notions of all sorts of violence. The myth includes mega-violence. Our national budget, our money…our taxes, largely go to support violence and greed through war.[2] War against “terror.” War against “the other.” Well, a history of war against almost everyone. New wars are fought through “fair trade agreements,” through world banking systems, through militarized police, against the homeless, against the poor, the immigrant, against ourselves… Violence against so many. The American Myth is also about micro-violence, hand gun violence, assault rifle violence, violence against women, violence against Black folks, violence against Native Americans, violence against Queer folk, and many more… Every week violence in America is like walking through a revolving door, until it happens to you. Then, I suppose, it’s like no other day you’ve ever known and, no other day you will ever know again.

Even if we could elect a congress who made it a priority to curb violence through legislation, better laws might help a bit but they won’t cure the problem. In America’s case, better laws are just Band-Aids placed on a mortal wound. The mythological nation-state of “America the innocent, the brave, always on the side of justice,” is fast becoming a bleeding-soon to be-corpse. The fix can only come when we face the truth of America’s origins. Diagnosis is the most difficult part of the problem. At least the most difficult to face. America suffers from a D.N.A. of egregious and horrific violence, sanctioned and justified for centuries, to support a mythology of national virtuousness, even-handed democracy and sacrosanctity.

The truth? The Doctrine of Discovery, still upheld in case law today,[3] justified Christian, Western European nations to force Indigenous peoples everywhere into slavery, steal their lands and for centuries murder innocent men, women and children. Why? Because those Indigenous fellow human beings were on land that they wanted. That Americans wanted. That Christians wanted. Why? Because those Native Americans loved their own friends, families and futures. Why? Because the Host Peoples resisted their own demise and extinction. The ethnic cleansing that was calculated and perpetrated against Native peoples was the actionable birth of our national American Myth of Violence.

Once the religious Doctrine of Discovery was codified, Americans expressed the myth through the zeitgeist of Manifest Destiny, White Supremacy and American Exceptionalism. The national myth became the law of the land. In order to operate effectively the American myth must rest on a foundation of hierarchy, first, those who can hear from God and those who cannot, continuing in various forms such as Christian over Muslim, White people over Brown people, male over female, wealth over impoverished, bosses over workers, Americans over the rest of the world. The myth is now ubiquitous to our laws and the national standards of society. It is embedded in business, in religion, in education, in entertainment. The myth created the de-humanization of Blacks and others; the African slave trade; scientific racism; Jim Crow and racial profiling. The myth propped up discrimination against women, insisted they were second-class citizens and supports the current rape culture. The myth sanctioned massacres, lynching, religiously sanctioned rape of children, physical abuse, cultural abuse, abuse to workers, lack of access to housing, to jobs and to other societal benefits, denying the right to vote, violence against the earth, pollution, and so much more…

The national myth subsidizing American violence is becoming more apparent as its blood spews into the streets and is reified on our television and computer screens. The mortally wounded corpse is seen walking through the streets that have until now, upheld it, in the schools that have honored and taught it, in the halls of congress and the courts who sanctioned it. The corpse is staggering, trying to find its footing but stumbling along, still trying to “rally the troops.” If it were not so vile one might even pity the American Myth of Violence.

The corpse called the American Myth is dead and with him dies a close-held part of us. He is dying. He just does not realize his wound is mortal. As the truth is taught, caught and shown through social and national media, we pause to see how treacherous, how arrogant, how horrendous his nature really was and is. Still, we must lay him to rest by admitting the myth was as bad as it appeared and even more evil than we imagined. For that reason, we must also pause to memorialize the victims of his reign of terror. We must think about the many facets in which the American Myth of Violence affected our lives. We must grieve our own years of torture. We must lament other victims by showing how he used his evil power in both global and national influence. Then we must move forward.

A new national narrative is needed. A narrative that admits the past national evil and lauds past national good. A narrative big enough to restructure every area of society in true democratic process. A narrative where everyone has a voice. A narrative where everyone has a life. A narrative where everyone has a job, a community, a friend. Not utopia. There is no utopia. Just a good and safe place to live, and learn and love. America-the New Beautiful. I long to see you when the national myth finally dies.

[2] The U.S. military budget is $763.9 billion for FY 2016. That makes military spending the second largest Federal government expenditure, after Social Security ($938 billion). Military spending is greater than Medicare ($583 billion), Medicaid ($351 billion), or the interest payment on the debt ($283). http://useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/p/military_budget.htm

Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us were not always respected. For those people, and the nations, from the heart of American democracy, we affirm my highest esteem and appreciation. Those first contacts were often turbulent and violent, but…” lifting his face from the script and looking out into the crowd he said, “ we know it’s very difficult to judge the past by the criteria of the present.” The, wait for it…yes, the congress applauds.

Honorable Pope Francis, may I express to you the age-old lesson that history repeats itself? People and governments repeat the “sins and the errors of the past” by not fully dealing with their responsibilities in the past. Your casual reference to the sins of America’s past, never even naming our peoples as First Nations, Native Americans or Indigenous peoples, only helps to justify and reinforce to the body to which you addressed, our continued mistreatment and our relegation to their intentions for us to fade into quiet oblivion. Your references to Jesus’ words to “do unto others as you would want them to do to you” is mere hypocrisy after such an affront to Indigenous peoples. Each congressional applause only added an exclamation point to your propaganda and props up their justification for not dealing with America’s genocide.

Your insistence on the canonization of Friar Junipero Serra is also outrageous but as we saw today, (and yesterday when you chose to “saint” him) it reinforces your disregard for the rights of Indigenous peoples. Serra, a man responsible for most of the imprisonment and colonization of California’s Indigenous peoples, is more than affront, it is egregious. You who speak so highly of the sanctity of life and the value of family insist on canonizing a man who has total disregard for the lives of those to whom he was “spreading the gospel.” Serra allowed his men to rape Native women and kill their objectors. He tortured and maimed those who resisted his message of Christianity, and kidnapped children only to be reunited with their parents after everyone agreed to family baptisms and perpetual enslavement. Hear Serra’s own words:

I would not feel sorry no matter what punishment they gave them, if they would commute it to prison for life, or in the stocks every day, since then it would be easier for them to die well. Do you think it possible that if they kept them prisoners for a time, and by means of interpreters explained to them about the life to come and its eternal duration, and if we prayed to God for them – might we not persuade them to repent and win them over to a better life? You could impress on them that the only reason they were still alive is because of our affection for them, and the trouble we took to save their lives.[1]

And Pope Francis, while we are discussing Indigenous peoples why not revoke the papal bulls of 1452 and 1493, collectively known as the “Doctrine of Discovery” which justified the cession of all lands “discovered by “Christians” like Serra and that genocidal buffoon, Columbus? These marching orders by the church gave Catholics and influenced Protestants alike, to partake in carte blanche justification to enslave Africans and Indigenous people’s everywhere and to justify worldwide land theft and genocide. But perhaps even genocide cannot be judged today according to your suggestion?

Which brings me to my final concern-your rationale. You say we can’t judge the mistakes of the past by today’s standards? But what about judging the sins of the past according to the legacy of brave men and women who have stood up for the rights of Indigenous peoples before during and after Serra’s, (and other church representatives) time? Your presumption disregards the long legacy of those whom I consider to be true heroes who protested slavery, condemned forced mission and risked their lives to protest Indigenous land theft. You dishonor these historic and present prophetic voices by your own rationale to disregard the sins of the past against Indigenous peoples and you dishonor the sacrifices they have made.

Pope Francis, you are likely a wonderful person but you have no sense of justice when it comes to true justice for the marginalized and still disenfranchised Indigenous peoples of the world. And, sadly to say, from where I stand, they and those who stood up for them in the past and present, are much closer to Jesus than you.

“Aloha:” a traditional Hawaiian word which is used both as a greeting and a send off. And now, it’s a mid-sized romantic-comedy starring a pretty much all-white cast.

Aloha is the story of Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a washed-up, blown-up former US Air Force officer and private military contractor working a last-chance gig for billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray as an interesting amalgamation of Richard Branson and Dick Cheney, with a little Jim Carrey goofy-ness mixed in). Serving as romantic opposites for Gilcrest are Rachel McAdams portraying Tracy Woodside (honest, hardworking, but longsuffering former flame of Gilcrest) and Emma Stone as the straight-laced Air Force rising-star Captain Allison Ng.

[Spoilers ahead]

The character of Allison Ng deserves some discussion here. Emma Stone appears in Aloha with her natural (or as natural as Hollywood can be) blond hair. “Ng” is a Cantonese (Chinese) last name. I get the sneaking suspicion that Cameron Crowe (both director and screenwriter for Aloha) envisioned someone a little more, shall we say Grace-Park-ish for the roll of Allison Ng—landing an A-lister like Ms. Stone probably settled any discussion on that topic. While it would have been easier for most audiences to believe someone of mixed Asian raced was a quarter native Hawaiian it would have been no less of an appropriation. Come on, there weren’t any Native Hawaiian actresses available? I really feel like giving this character the surname of “Ng” was an unnecessary distraction to what would have been appropriation anyways. Once Emma Stone signed on, why not just change the character’s name her “Allison Jorgenson” and be done with it? In the end, there is no reason she couldn’t have been 100% native Hawaiian and given what this character does on screen, casting a native Hawaiian actress in the role would have been entirely appropriate.

The plot: Aloha’s intro title roll splices together generic cold war footage with Hawaiian luau and parade scenes. When Gilcrest and his potential romantic rival, the strong but silent John “Woody” Woodside (C-17 pilot and now husband of McAdam’s Tracy Woodside) deplane on the ramp at Hickam AFB, there is a Hula team to greet them. Make no mistake: for better or worse this film knows it’s set in Hawaii and lays on the Hawaiiana thick.

Gilcrest’s immediate task is to secure the indigenous population’s blessing for the opening of a new, high-capacity gate for Joint Base Hickam/Pearl Harbor. His real job is to ensure the successful launch of Global One’s private rocket “Brave Angel” and the safe delivery of its mystery payload. While Gilcrest makes awkwardly familiar conversation with Tracy, he’s hounded by the by-the-book Captain Ng, who’s been tasked with keeping Gilcrest on a tight leash.

It’s here that we’re introduced to Tracy’s and Woody’s son Mitch, who fulfills the role of the creepy, yet strangely prescient kid obsessed with the Hawaiian legend of the arrival of Lono—a kid who couldn’t possibly have read the book since he never puts down his video camera. Mitch muses that Gilcrest is, in fact Lono (Makahiki Hawaiian God of peace)—a convenient metaphor, but one that is strangely never completed by Crowe.

Gilcrest and Ng make their way to the camp of the Soveriegn Hawaiian Nation, ruled by King “Bumpy” (real-life Hawaiian sovereignty activist Dennis Kanahele). Before they arrive Ng awkwardly pronounces “This place has a lot of mana [power].” It’s a jarring insertion and not the last time that Crowe’s injection of Hawaiiana comes across too on-the-nose.

While the odd pair are initially repulsed by the local toughs, it turns out that Gilcrest and Bumpy go way back and Bumpy accepts Gilcrest as Ohana (“family,” didn’t you watch Lilo and Stitch?). Despite Bumpy having “big time respect” for military folks “when they do the right thing” Gilcrest’s ham fisted attempts at negotiation falter until he’s rescued by Ng who just happens to be fluent in native Hawaiian. Ng saves the negotiations: Bumpy will bless the opening of the gate and removal of native Hawaiian burial remains on the condition that he is given back “two hills” of land, a cell tower to provide coverage over his lands, and assurances that the base will not be used to launch weapons into orbit (something Ng confidently states cannot take place since the US is a signatory of a no-weapons-in-space treaty).

While driving back to town Gilcrest muses “We speak money, they speak myths & sky. The sky doesn’t speak [it’s all about money].” Ok, we get it, Gilcrest is not sincere in his negotiations—not exactly the first haole to lie during negotiations. But then Ng spots series of strange lights and shadows ahead. “Night Marchers!” Really? Unfortunately, Gilcrest doesn’t get picked like an Opihi. I’m not really sure what this scene was supposed to do plot-wise. Maybe it was supposed to contradict Gilcrest’s earlier quip denying the presence of supernatural intervention, or maybe it was just another insertion of Hawaiiana in the cause of “authenticity?” Either way, it didn’t really work for Gilcrest and probably won’t work for most audience members who will not necessarily connect the Night Marchers with the sky speaking to a mere human. If that’s even what this scene was written for.

From here the film takes a turn toward the personal. Gilcrest visits the Woodsides at their home, and finds Ng already there instructing the Woodside’s nominal daughter, Grace in the Hula (is there anything that Ng can’t do?). Gilcrest and Tracy begin a long awaited and badly needed after-action report on their relationship only to be interrupted by Woody who silently conveys a number of sentiments without saying a word. In an odd but winsome reversal of the “women are always better communicators than men” trope, Tracy is completely ignorant of what is being said, so Gilcrest translates for her after Woody leaves. It’s an awkward introduction to a shtick that pays off pretty well later on. Suffice to say that there are unresolved feelings and issues between Tracy and Gilcrest.

It’s also here that we get, in my opinion, one of the biggest mis-steps of the screenplay. Gilcrest visits Mitch in his room to find the boy watching a hamster mating clip on his computer. Whether this is intended to show that Mitch is more mature than the typical child or that the child is in fact some form of creepy hamster porn aficionado isn’t clear and it gets less clear due to the dialog that follows. Gilcrest asks Mitch how the arrival myth ends, so he knows where the story goes (and, if he in fact wants to be Lono). Mitch explains (remember: this is a pre-teen child) Pele captures Lono and enacts “revenge-sex” on him for the next 1000 years, the result of which becomes the next island in the Hawaiian chain. They both conclude that such a fate is “not a bad way to go.” How would an eight year-old-not only know what revenge-sex is but also know enough to be in favor of being the victim of 1000 years of said revenge-sex? Maybe hamster porn isn’t the only thing this kid has been watching—or perhaps he’s found a truly unique subgenre of the already unique hamster-porn subgenre: revenge hamster porn. Maybe you really can find anything on the internet these days—despite that possibility I would opine that are some corners of cyberspace into which young boys should not be looking, revenge hamster porn being one of them.

Gilcrest and Ng eventually wind up in the Officer’s Club with everyone else from the cast except anyone who is actually native Hawaiian. There’s a party, some mention of menehune (when the wind blows some shutters open) and as a result of this sequence, we learn three very important things 1) Ng is not only an accomplished Hula dancer, fighter pilot, and Olelo speaker, but she can also cut a rug American style as well, 2) Carson Welch, owner of Global One, intends to put his own private nuke into space with the upcoming Brave Angel launch that is only days away. Carson’s justification is that he is a patriot and America needs to be one step ahead of the Chinese (Sorry Vladimir, you’ve been demoted), 3) Alec Baldwin’s acting has devolved from the compelling bully Blake of “Glen Gary Glen Ross” to whatever overacting goof is named in the Capitol One “What’s in your wallet?” scripts.

Gilcrest opens the flash drive given to him by Carson which shows Brave Angel’s mystery second payload, but doesn’t chose to share the contents with Ng despite an intimate encounter that night. Later Ng visits the Woodside’s house while on a post-sex-high jog-through-the-neighborhood and sees covert footage captured by Mitch of Brave Angel being loaded onto Global One’s rocket. Somehow she deduces that the payload is weaponized (told you, this wahine got da mana!). She meets Gilcrest for a pre-arranged lunch and confronts him over his broken promise to Bumpy. The two have a predictable falling out which is made somewhat more entertaining by the inclusion of a ridiculous hat. Not gonna lie: ‘Dat hat steal ‘da scene, brah. Don’t be surprised to see it on stage next year for Oscar: best supporting actor/actress.

To her credit, Ng seems genuinely distressed by this revelation of an attempt to weaponize space. It’s not just that Gilcrest betrayed her, but that she also, as an accessory to the launch, will betray the Native Hawaiians to whom she seems to have more of a connection to than Gilcrest himself.

The native Hawaiians bless the gate opening and in a seemingly rushed sequence a still feuding Gilcrest and Ng are whisked off to launch control: the date has been moved up. Instead of running the launch sequence from a modern command center, the odd couple are closeted in what looks like a 1970s radio studio hidden in the back of a grocery warehouse. The cloak-and-dagger-secret-bat-cave-ness of the whole scene are never explained.

Gilcrest looks around the launch center and decides to do the right thing. For those of you who were wondering: Gilcrest doing the right thing was never in doubt (this is a rom-com remember?). In a leap of both logic and physics, he uses concentrated sound waves to knock the Brave Angel out of orbit. Really? Sound in space? Pigs in Space would have made more sense.

With that, Gilcrest effectively nails shut the coffin to his own career in the aerospace industry. He leaves to tie up a few loose ends with Tracy. Tracy finally admits to Gilcrest that Grace is his daughter, not Woody’s, although she and her husband have never talked about where Grace came from. In the second best acted scent of the film, Woody and Gilcrest have a touching (pun intended) silent conversation which happily displays John Karsinki’s depth as an actor. Jim from The Office has grown up.

Gilcrest also visits the Hula Halau where Grace is dancing. The two share a heartfelt, but silent scene as Grace comes to the same understanding as Gilcrest. Aloha does have its moments and this is one of them.

In a finale that seems more than slightly deus-ex-machina, Gilcrest is sent off to the o-club where Alec Baldwin’s General Dixon absolves Gilcrest of any criminal wrongdoing. It turns out that the Air Force finally figured out what the second “mystery” payload of Brave Angel actually was. Gilcrest then goes on to catch Ng at the hotel before she leaves for parts unknown.

As a rom-com Aloha works—barely. Unfortunately the number of awkwardly staged set pieces, and creepy/oddly timed lines of dialog outweigh the few sweet moments of the film. Crowe’s male actors fill their roles pretty well, and I particularly enjoyed the quirky eccentricity that Bill Murray injected into what could have been a bland and one-dimensional villain. On the other hand Alec Baldwin wasn’t particularly believable as an over-animated, but then super chill four star general (how come every Hollywood general has to have four stars?). Crowe’s female characters were where I had the most problems. McAdams, who is an accomplished actress didn’t seem to have much to work with in the character of Tracy Woodside. Conversely, Emma Stone, was asked to cover too much ground in a do-all/be-all-character.

Ultimately, the biggest casting complaint I have about Aloha is that Cameron Crowe missed an opportunity to put a truly native Hawaiian actress on-screen. It’s a movie in Hawaii, partially about Hawaii, with a character who speaks Hawaiian and knows the Hawaiian legends. What more excuse do you need to buck the typical Hollywood trend of casting white people as indigenous/POC? It’s not that Emma Stone is a bad actress, but this wasn’t her part. As it happened, the combination that is Captain Allison Ng on-screen both serves the appropriation narrative that we’re all (part) Hawaiian—even if we look Haole as all get out and distracts from the narrative itself.

Props to Crowe for his inclusion of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. I really think he tried, not only in casting Dennis Kanahele and other Native Hawaiians as supporting cast/extras but also by including dialog by non-native characters that recognizes native rights to their own land. What I am not so sure of is how non-kanaka maoli audiences will receive their portrayal and what I am really hoping does not come across is a sentiment that the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is composed of what are politically irrelevant brown-skinned rednecks in search of cell service. This film includes, by far, the most screen-time for the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement of any recent major release so far. But that also reflects poorly on Hollywood as a whole if this is the best example that we have (while “The Descendants” talked about keeping land the cause was more sentimentality than sovereignty).

When I saw the trailer for Aloha, I really wanted to dislike the film (“All white people in a film on Hawaii? What is this the Hawaiian version of Friends?”). Then I was impressed to see Crowe’s seemingly honest inclusion of a part of the Hawaiian story that Hollywood actively avoids. In the end, I was left with mixed feelings. Just in terms of film mechanics, Aloha could have been much smoother than it was. In terms of recognizing Hawaiian sovereignty and the current occupation of the islands, it could have said so much more both via scripting and casting. In the end Aloha finishes as a tempting, but sadly missed opportunity to both tell a good story and make an important stand.

]]>https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/from-the-post-colonial-peanut-gallery-aloha/feed/0ethnicspaceOn Food and Giving Thanks for Neoliberalism: Taking the Capital out of Thanksgiving by Matt Cumingshttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/on-food-and-giving-thanks-for-neoliberalism-taking-the-capital-out-of-thanksgiving-by-matt-cumings/
https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/on-food-and-giving-thanks-for-neoliberalism-taking-the-capital-out-of-thanksgiving-by-matt-cumings/#respondThu, 27 Nov 2014 16:24:59 +0000http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/?p=696Continue reading →]]>Tis the season for turkey, and I just really want to talk about food! Mmmmmm, yummy food my favorite of which, like a teenager, is still the turkey leg! Speaking of turkeys, here’s a nice letter from your last local turkey farmer. Or how about pumpkin pie, I really don’t eat it any other time of the year, the same thing with cranberries and persimmons. Persimmons are such a strange fruit, much like the strange fruit the american empire continues to bear:

“Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.” – Jesus

What is your favorite corn dish? There are so many good ones- of course thanks to the all old white people led 350.org march most people are well aware of the monster Monsanto is. But we turn a blind eye to neoliberal policy responsible for globalizing an economy to serve the white supremacist american empire. By opening (so-called) mexico as a free market the subsidized (so-called) u.s. corn could be purchased cheaper in mexico than native species of corn from mexico. This forced farmers to abandon their land for cities and/or eventually travel north to survive.

Still the food though, the food is where it’s at! Even though it comes from farmers spraying pesticides on Native’s land ruining the very skin of Mother Earth. Oh, but you probably buy your food from Whole Foods where it’s organic and all that. It does taste better, doesn’t it!? Organic gardening is really hard work. I don’t know what a worker’s experience is like on a large-scale organic farm, I know from doing it myself it’s much harder dealing with weeds and other pests than just spraying stuff.

Places like Whole Foods and New Seasons in Portland are pioneer companies for gentrification. Hipsters and other upwardly mobile folks won’t move into an area until there is a “proper market” in a reasonable driving distance. Fred Myers, Kroger, and the like are now becoming the only place lower classes can shop, especially in urban areas. So…what’s the answer? Farmer’s Market? Hmm, probably not.

Maybe a sharing food community? Permaculture wants to get there but as it has appropriated Indigenous knowledge without being in a good relationship with the Indigenous peoples from whom much of it was understood from it has begun the commodification process that leads to being co-opted in the capitalist white supremacist system. It’s a shame it did embody Indigenous ways of knowing and being or Australia may have a different relationship with its Aboriginal people. At the end of the day we must recognize whose land we are one, and we must make the distinctions between who was physically forced here by the slave trade or who was forced here by neoliberal policy and other groups and the white european colonizers. Ultimately, at the end of the day we are all Settlers, but conflating all non-Indigenous people into this category is problematic.

I just wanted to talk about what a great time it is to get together on thanksgiving and eat- what a good time it is celebrating our national religion of white supremacy. It’s really all about the food, I keep getting sidetracked though.

As I have done throughout I suggest we stop capitalizing (interesting we choose the word capitalize as a metaphor to signify a word/event as especially important) thanksgiving and stop celebrating the holiday altogether. In the near future there may be one last use for Thanksgiving, a day when the u.s. empire recognizes whose land they are on and let the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and the entire world lead us all in a good way. In this way we can truly give thanksgiving everyday instead of living selfishly all year and releasing the shame in one ceremonial day of of gluttonous feasting (not to mention the hangover we experience from even one day of not consuming- after just one day or pretending to be thankful we rush into the streets because our desire to consume will not be tamed- Black Friday indeed.), in this way we can begin to balance. First we must admit we are sick because we live in a sick society. If you still have trouble truly admitting that white european men came to Turtle Island and forced their way on to the land to create a white haven, look at Ferguson and the the missing and murdered Indigenous women. The end of Thanksgiving will lead to the beginning of thanksgiving.

I long for a day when I live in a community welcomed to the land by the people it belongs to, and whom the land longs to be with. When we can eat the native food of the area, and other food traded directly from producer to producer. A day free from living complicitly with empire, this is thanksgiving in a good way.

]]>https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/on-food-and-giving-thanks-for-neoliberalism-taking-the-capital-out-of-thanksgiving-by-matt-cumings/feed/0ethnicspaceAmerica: Imagine Apples and Oranges by Randy Woodleyhttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/america-imagine-apples-and-oranges-by-randy-woodley/
https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/america-imagine-apples-and-oranges-by-randy-woodley/#commentsTue, 22 Jul 2014 20:25:18 +0000http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/?p=694Continue reading →]]>I recently saw Dinesh D’Souza’s America:Imagine A World Without Her with my 19 year old son. I won’t dignify the sorts of arguments he makes with a counter argument to any of the ridiculous historical inaccuracies given but simply make note of the many manipulative tools I observed that were used. I would rank the level of propaganda used in this film right up there with Joseph Goebbels Nazism and other effective propaganda movements.

Eric Hoffer, in his classic The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements (1951) wrote, “Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.” Who is D’Souza’s devil? The American “liberal” who is “re-writing history” and committing national “suicide.” Well, fear is a great motivator but after the truth eventually bears itself out, (and elections are over) people stop being afraid of the devil you made up. I mention elections because to my chagrin, the last 1/3 of the movie was an anti-Obama, and especially anti-Hillary Clinton campaign, which belied the real intention of the movie, namely, “STOP THE DEMOCRATS!”

All the typical propaganda tools were used; playing on people’s fears, inflating and deflating numbers and statistics, exaggerating claims, majoring on the minors, conflating non-related ideas, answering systemic concerns with individual examples, attacks without evidence, using non-experts and making them look like real experts, leading questions, false assumptions, creating only binary choices, etc. All of this in the end, makes D’Souza’s America both good and great, and it makes those who want to use their freedom of speech to represent the oppressed in order to build a better America, look like enemies of the state.

In D’Souza’s America there was no genocide on Native Americans, the land was never stolen, Black chattel slavery was unfortunate but after all, some Blacks held slaves too, Mexico was not stolen, there were no impure motives for Viet Nam, Iraq or Afghanistan. This sort of telling is reminiscent of those who deny the Nazi holocaust against the Jews and theatres should be ashamed to advertise it as a documentary. It’s everything White ultra-conservatives want to hear-but no one in the film ever bothers to asks the truly oppressed person, “how has it been for you?” And no one in the film asked the rest of the world, in which America consumes most of the resources, “America, can you imagine a world without her?”

In the Unsettling of America Wendell Berry writes, “The first principle of the exploitive mind is to divide and conquer.” D’Souza is a divider and an exploiter. He is not trying to make a better America, he is simply an extreme conservative operative behind a thin veil of patriotism who is trying to make a more effective smear campaign in preparation for the 2016 elections. One of the many “best American values” missing from the film was honesty. This is not an attempt at dialogue or even an effective argument between conservatives and progressives; this film was a sham. My son and I agreed, it was a poor use of $23.50 and several hours time.

]]>https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/america-imagine-apples-and-oranges-by-randy-woodley/feed/4ethnicspaceIndigenous Young People-Your Future and the Big Picture By Uncle Randy Woodleyhttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/indigenous-young-people-your-future-and-the-big-picture-by-uncle-randy-woodley/
https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/indigenous-young-people-your-future-and-the-big-picture-by-uncle-randy-woodley/#commentsSun, 22 Dec 2013 20:29:19 +0000http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/?p=688Continue reading →]]>As I look at the world that my generation is handing down to you…you, the first of the next seven generations and at your future, I grieve. But, I also see with this great challenge, great hope. I want to give you some advice to consider as you choose your fields of expertise and lifestyle. Our Mother Earth is in trouble…my generation has made it this way. If you don’t do something differently, you will continue the systemic evils that haunt our planet. While I cannot imagine the earth ceasing, I can imagine an earth surviving without humans. This would be tragic since it is our responsibility to maintain life’s harmony, but we have not done a good job of it. (Note: This applies directly to the US but Canada is not far behind).

In my book, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, I set out a simple thesis concerning how the earth is responding to our abuse and neglect. (This is a long quote but please read it):

Americans tend to be pragmatic people except when they are held captive to a false ideology. I wonder what it will take for us to hear the sound of the alarm going off in our world right now. I will leave it to the dozens of other books out there to explain the specifics of our impending disaster and only note that topsoil is disappearing…forest are shrinking…desertification is advancing…coral reefs are dying…plants, fish, insects, birds and animal species are all going extinct… and our fresh water sources are being depleted! Serious concerns exist at every level from local to global.

For millennia, the whole of creation has been producing enough energy to allow limited consumption. Humanity, in just a few generations has accelerated consumption exponentially. Mother Earth is now trying to re-balance the overuse through random “acts of nature.” She is reclaiming her territory, “spitting out the inhabitants,” in order to restore harmony. With the advent of each new season bringing increased natural disasters on us such as global climate change, acid rain and serious global water shortages, we have apparently blocked the Creator’s blessing in some significant ways.

Looking at the problem from a global perspective, the normal energy supplied by Mother Earth through producers such as Phytoplankton, are being consumed too rapidly and disequilibrium has occurred. Under normal conditions (i.e., pre-modern), humans are only tertiary consumers of the earth’s energy behind more primary consumers like zooplankton, and secondary energy consumers like fish. Humans have moved recently from tertiary consumers to becoming primary consumers. Such a change is beyond the earth’s natural cycles and re-charge rates, creating imbalance and disharmony on the whole planet. In order to restore balance, the earth is being forced to “consume” the primary consumer, moving her temporarily to confront humanity with the only defense she has, namely, natural disasters. In a very real sense, the top of the food chain is now the earth herself. But hopefully, there may still be time to repent and change…

The blessings of a healed land seem to follow when there is a re-marriage between the people and the land. The current marital status between modern humanity and the land is similar to a state of divorce. Today, the earth is clearly speaking to humanity but in terms of our national and global policies, we are ignoring her message. What is needed in order to reconcile the marriage, is a marriage counselor. And that is the role that indigenous people can play in this serious breach. Before colonialism eventually alleviates the most precious gift that indigenous people have to offer their world, which is their view of the land, non-indigenous people (those who currently wield the power), need the opportunity to change their worldview and save the planet. It is time for the younger brothers and sisters on the land to learn from their elder brothers and sisters, just how to fall love with the land once again. If we cannot reconcile this marriage, the effects may be irreversible and it may be sooner than we think.

The apostle Paul captures the intimacy of the relationship between the people and the land where he says, “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22 NLT). Earlier, Paul described the same expectation, using the same language for humans. The point is, both human beings together with all the rest of creation, await a better way of living than they may be experiencing now. Certainly, we are already behind schedule.

The worldly philosophy dictating direction at this time is based on imperialism and dualism. You, as Indigenous young people must fight it with every breath you have if you are going to change the world you leave your children and grandchildren. The only way to battle this evil is by understanding the values that helped your ancestors thrive well on the earth. You must set your mind to learning and owning these values which are often reinforced through our traditions, stories and ceremonies. These ways were a gift from Creator to our people and they show us how to live life well. Some of these values include generosity, respect, living in community, extended family and adoption of strangers, a life governed by harmony and balance, courage in adversity, tenaciousness, adaptability, intuitiveness, ingenuity, holistic thinking, inclusiveness, sacrifice, loyalty, tangible and reliable spirituality, humor and a real interconnectedness to the land and with all creation. To carry our ways forward, you must, in this sense, be men and women who are cultural warriors.

But, not only must you maintain our ancient ways, you must find careers that advance these values. I would never presume to tell anyone what to do for a living but as you think about career paths, please consider how you can use your giftedness of a holistic worldview to help restore harmony on earth. The problem in modern science and technology is that they, by and large, see life through fragmented lenses. For the Western mind, these extrinsic categories dictate their ways of thinking. You, however, have the gift of seeing more possibilities; the whole picture; more options; and greater solutions to modern problems. You understand how the many insurmountable problems we are facing are related to each other. It will be up to you to come up with models of living in community; healing the earth; and restoring harmony.

As I look at many of the problems we face like constant wars, water shortage, food distribution, poverty, etc. I understand they are all related. For example: We have surpassed the point of peak oil. The US uses 25% of the worlds oil supply but only as 2% of the world’s reserves. In order to continue this addiction the US must attempt to “democratize” all countries with oil in order to keep the supply flowing. This means worldwide domination, at least in philosophy. It means constant wars. It means mostly the poorest young people will die in both countries. It means the propaganda in schools about our colonial empire must be maintained. It means laws will be bent towards the wealthiest people and corporations and fewer subsidies will be invested in science and enterprise developing alternative energies. Coal, oil and natural gas will continually be tapped in our country, much of which lies underneath Indigenous lands. Pollution will increase. Laws and fines against corporate fossil fuel thieves will not be enforced. Injustice will continue to prevail and national lies will continually be made to look like truth. Etc. This is just one scenario for one industry. We can continue to expand this to the chemical industry, Big Pharma, Agriculture, etc.

As Indigenous people what can we do? We have never been big in numbers but, we don’t need numbers to change the world. We need new models, new discoveries and new paradigms. If we can create new models of harmony way living, the rest of the people will rise up and begin using them in other places. In this sense, all we need to do is come up with local solutions. Just take a look at the impact of one city in Brazil has had. The city is called Curitiba. Look it up.

Edith and I are creating a model farm for small acreages to show people how to live organically and share with others. We believe our principles can be used in urban farming as well. But even if every empty plot in every city were used for growing food, the demand would far outweigh the supply. This means new models for cities must be developed. Buildings must be re-designed to grow food on them and in them. Communities must be re-oriented. Suburbs must be redesigned to shared cooperatives. Water catchment systems redesigned for everyday use. Solar and wind energy incorporated. Mass transportation and other means like bike cites rethought. City ordinances changed, etc.

Behind the intervention and re-design also lies the science and technological possibilities. Water engineering, quantum physics, urban forestry, etc. all hold possibilities for you and your generation. Also, politics come in to play when development occurs. Here are just a few of the many paths you could choose:

Community Activists, Organizers

Water Use Research

Alternative Technologies

Urban, Rural and Suburban Land Use and Planning

Mayors and City Councils

Urban or Suburban Farmers

Urban Forestry

Historical Societies (markers are symbols of power/empire)

Genetics

Theologians (understanding Creator/Christ in new/old ways

Historians (never forget your past-it guides you)

Spiritual Leaders

Scientists

Quantum Physicists

Teachers

Architects

Well, there are many things I have not considered, but I think you understand what I am saying. Please pray and consider how you will help bring this earth and our Indigenous ways, back in harmony, for all people’s sake. Thank you…I’ll close with a story from my own Keetoowah people.

As it was told to me, many years ago the sun took on the human form of a beautiful woman. She traveled each day across the sky. The Sun’s daughter lived in the center of the sky, and daily, the sun would stop to visit her. The Cherokee people loved the sunshine and the ability to see all of the beauty Creator had made. As time went on, the sun stayed longer each day, lingering until the visits began to cause a great drought. Things were in a terrible mess! People were having heat strokes, the springs, creek and rivers all began to dry up and all the crops died. People, and animals alike, all began to starve. The Harmony Way had been broken.

The Cherokee came together with the animals to discuss their serious concerns over the Sun. After days of discussion they could not agree on an answer so they decided to go to the Little People for their advice. The Little People told the Cherokees, as difficult as it may be, they must kill the sun.

The Cherokee discussed it and tried to decide who would carry out this monumental task. They first asked the rattlesnake to kill the sun for them. Grandfather Rattler agreed he would do it so coiled himself up by the door to the Sun’s daughter’s house. When the daughter opened the door for her mother, the snake struck. The Sun’s brightness had blinded him though and he had by mistake, struck the daughter and she died.

The Sun could not be consoled. She shrouded herself in the clouds as she was mourning her daughter and eventually she stopped shinning at all. Soon, the rains came. At first the rain was a welcome sight. The Cherokee and all the animals thought their problems were solved and that harmony would once again be restored. But the rains continued day after day until they caused tremendous flooding. Soon, no village nor any kind of shelter for even the smallest creature would be safe. The Cherokee sought the Little People once again for their advice. The Little People told the Cherokee that they must travel to the West, the land of the spirits and bring back the spirit of the sun’s daughter. That was the only way to restore Harmony.

Seven of the most courageous and most spiritual warriors, armed only with sacred Sourwood stick and Eagle feathers, traveled West, to the land of the spirits. When the warriors found the spirit of the Sun’s daughter she said she would not return with them. They tried to convince her to come back to Cherokee country with them but no matter what they said, she was determined to stay in the land of the spirits.

Finally, one of the warriors got an idea. He struck the spirit seven times with his sacred fan and she collapsed. The warriors put her in a large box to travel back home to the Cherokee country. On the way back, the spirit of the Sun’s daughter awoke. “I am thirsty,” she said, but they ignored her request for water. She yelled from the box again, “I am so hungry,” she said, but again the warriors ignored her request for food. Then suddenly, with a more serious tone in her voice she suddenly cried out, “I can’t breathe, I am going to die!”

The Cherokee warriors became concerned for her and they opened the box a tiny bit. The spirit darted out and in mid-flight, became a Redbird. With her song the daughter began calling out to her mother. Upon hearing her daughter’s song, the Sun pushed back the clouds to see her daughter once again. The Sun was very happy to see her daughter in the beautiful form of a Redbird so she allowed her to remain that way. Now, when we see a Redbird, we are always reminded that no matter how out of balance things can become, there always awaits a return to beauty.

]]>https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/indigenous-young-people-your-future-and-the-big-picture-by-uncle-randy-woodley/feed/1ethnicspaceyoung Indian boyRevenge of the Rickshaw Rally by Daniel Fanhttps://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/revenge-of-the-rickshaw-rally-by-daniel-fan/
https://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/revenge-of-the-rickshaw-rally-by-daniel-fan/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 06:11:28 +0000http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/?p=676Continue reading →]]>In the summer of 2004, LifeWay Publishing released “Rickshaw Rally: Racing to the Son,” a vacation bible school curriculum that was saturated with stereotypical images of Asians, mixing of different cultural heritages, and in general, a heaping pile of racism with a little “Jesus” sprinkled on top. When Asian American community members complained they were told that the offense was not intentional and furthermore: “this curriculum is really about preaching Jesus, and I wouldn’t want you to do anything that would stop Jesus from bring preached.” Non-Asians Americans also voiced their frustration with Rickshaw Rally, but LifeWay brushed these objections aside. Nearly ten years later, at the 2013 Mosaix Multi-Ethnic Church Conference LifeWay released this 1-1/2 minute apology for Rickshaw Rally: http://vimeo.com/78735039.

But this apology is not as simple as it sounds, nor is it necessarily a viable entrée into further dialog as some may have hoped…

“You’re here because you know something…that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” –Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, “The Matrix” (1999)

Life is a story. And how we tell that story says as much about us as it does about the world we are trying to describe.

Every story has a protagonist. In our westernized mind set, the protagonist is always an individual, even if that individual is one among many working for the same goal. However, something about that protagonist will stand out, or be made to stand out. He may be a wounded soul, or extraordinarily dumb; she may be particularly intelligent or particularly impetuous.

The story of Rickshaw Rally cannot be told in its entirety without recounting the prominent activism of people like Soong-Chan Rah. This is the story of a small band of Asian American Christians that dared to challenge the juggernaut of Christian publishing, and won: it was their risk-filled ten-year struggle that precipitated the apology delivered on November 7th, 2013, at the Mosaix Conference by LifeWay president Thom Rainer.

Or is it?

Every story has an antagonist. Sometimes the antagonist is a specific person, but it can also be something less anthropocentric, like a storm, a shark, or a mass of zombies. LifeWay, at the time, refused to alter or remove the offensive Rickshaw Rally curriculum from circulation. In fact, some churches within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) were compelled to purchase and used the material even after members of the SBC voiced their own objections to the material. Nor did any particular LifeWay leader stand out to answer for or defend the decisions which led to Rickshaw Rally’s genesis or publication.

“Relax, you’ve been erased”—US Marshal John Kruger, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Eraser” (1996)

LifeWay’s November 7th apology made no mention of the heroic activism by members of any ethnicity who opposed their original Rickshaw Rally curriculum. When specific members of the Asian American community, including Soong-Chan Rah and others challenged the curriculum, LifeWay plodded forward as an uncaring, impersonal, unknowable, faceless, amorphous and unaccountable force of nature. But in LifeWay’s November 7th “apology” Thom Rainer is the focal point, and those who dared act as speed-bumps before the steamroller of evangelistic racial stereotyping that was Rickshaw Rally are reduced to the mere mention of “some.” Now it is those “many in the Asian American community” that are the faceless mob. Furthermore Rainer makes no mention of who LifeWay will be accountable to with only a vague reference to future dialogue with “ethnic leaders.” In fact, the curriculum itself receives more mention in the apology than those who fought against it.

By replacing Asian American activists with a white CEO in the role of protagonist, LifeWay has fundamentally altered the structure of this narrative. In effect, the tale has gone from David v. Goliath, a story of under-dog protest, activism, suffering, and risk, to one of self-realized/actualized repentance. Yes, LifeWay apologized, but did they apologize because they suddenly decided they were wrong? or because they truly valued and listened to the concerns that were raised by Asian Americans and other people of color? Thom Rainer states “LifeWay will continue to train our staff to be aware of and sensitive to ethnic and cultural difference so that our materials continue to respectfully represent all people groups.” Really? Where is the continuity? If LifeWay’s material had respectfully represented all people groups ten years ago, then what were my Asian, African American, and some white brothers and sisters protesting about all this time? Doesn’t the erasure of Asian American activism from this story form a second offense: further reinforcing Asian invisibility and insignificance?

You see, how we tell the story matters.

“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” –Obi Wan Kenobi, played by Sir Alec Guiness, “Return of the Jedi” (1983)

Film schools sometimes use an interesting exercise to teach students about story-telling. The assignment will be to take a film of a certain genre and cut/splice scenes to fit a completely different genre. An example might be cutting “Bridge Jones’s Diary” (a 2001 romantic comedy) in such a way as to convince the audience that the film is actually a 007-esque techno-spy thriller. Within our individualistic culture, protagonists are always individuals. The individual carries the story. Therefore, in a story with only two individuals, deleting the protagonist always results in the antagonist becoming the new protagonist. Like the film school exercise, but with far greater historical implications: LifeWay’s apology conveniently slices up past historical events, and recasts their CEO as the individual, personal, relatable activist/protagonist while Asian Americans become the faceless complainants. In doing so LifeWay has not simply erased the true hero-activists of this story, but has replaced them with a pretender of its own creation. A more thorough corruption is difficult to imagine.

“Some of the most successful relationships are based on lies and deceit. Since that’s where they usually end up anyway, it’s a logical place to start.”—Yuri Orlov, played by Nicholas Cage, “Lord of War” (2005)

But is this where we as Christians want to start our dialogues? What kind of relationship can be built on such a corrupt foundation? The erasure of my activist uncles and aunties troubles me far more than any race-mixing stereotypes. I refuse to sacrifice the prophets of my people before the idol of LifeWay’s “apology.”

Now playing:“Revenge of the Rickshaw Rally”where the white supremacist system that spawned such racist curriculum seeks to supplant the very heroes who fought to banish it. This is one show I won’t be buying tickets to, and neither should you.